


fae love differently

by donkeykongsmario



Category: The Folk of the Air - Holly Black
Genre: Cardan just wants to make out with his wife, Cardan teaches Taryn about Fae Love, F/M, Fae & Fairies, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, Jealousy, Jude is scary when angry, Kissing, Love, Monogamy, One Shot, POV Cardan Greenbriar, Taryn makes assumptions and Cardan corrects her, Teaching, discusses characters from Holly's other books, fae can be faithful, he's also naked but no one mentions it, pregnancy hormones, proving a point
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:20:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28177560
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donkeykongsmario/pseuds/donkeykongsmario
Summary: When a heavily pregnant, and hormonal, Taryn decides to lament fae love by Jude, Cardan steps up to explain just how wrong Locke's assessment had been.
Relationships: Ben Evans/Severin (Darkest Part of the Forest), Hazel Evans/Jack Gordon, Jude Duarte/Cardan Greenbriar, Kaye Fierch/Rath Roiben Rye, Madoc/Oriana (The Folk of the Air), Ravus/Valerie "Val" Russell, Taryn Duarte/Locke, Taryn Duarte/The Ghost, The Bomb/The Roach (The Folk of the Air), Vivienne Duarte/Heather
Comments: 10
Kudos: 106





	fae love differently

**.**

When Taryn shows up to Cardan's bedchamber with tears in her eyes and trembling fists, he does not say a word. 

He simply stands aside to allow the elder of the Duarte twins to dart past him and fling herself into his wife's waiting arms, watching as Jude sends him a panicked look that he answers with a soft smile. There is nothing to worry about, he tries to tell her, she'll be able to calm Taryn down after whatever incident has upset her this time.

(Cardan tries not to think of the week before when Taryn started weeping at the sight of a faerie-child playing with a badly woven doll and _wasn't that just too cute?_ Taryn had spent so much time lamenting the child's love for said doll that, seeing a member of the Shadow Court passing by, he had grabbed their wrist and forced them to sit with Taryn. The person had been the Ghost, of course, so he didn't mind in the least and had patiently listened to her worsening remarks.

Cardan had simply decided never to ask how Taryn is doing ever again. At least, not until Locke's spawn had crawled out of the swollen ball that is her stomach.)

Now, instead of donning a robe as he probably should, Cardan pops his head out of the room and beckons Fand to his side. There is a moment of uncertainty on Jude's knight's face, but, thankfully, she does come towards Cardan and bows respectfully. Cardan barely even notices.

"Can you ask a servant to bring some calming tea to my room?" Cardan asks and, looking behind him to where Taryn has started blubbering out words, he adds, "and some scones?"

Fand takes a moment to look to where Jude is repeatedly telling Taryn to take a moment to calm herself and try to tell her whatever is bothering her again, before nodding and leaving the room.

Cardan breathes a sigh of relief and turns to see his sister-in-law dig her palms into her eyesockets. He staggers backwards at the sight, finding the behaviour quite odd, before turning back to his beautiful wife whose hair is still messy and unkempt from both their sleep and what they had done before going to bed.

"I should probably leave," Cardan announces, needlessly, he thinks, "there are many kingly duties I need to perform and..."

Taryn tears her hands away from her eyes and glares at him; a look that, hadn't Cardan known Jude as thoroughly as he does, might have caused Cardan to mistake the older Duarte-twin to be his wife. Cardan flinches away from it.

"Why can't you love like we do?!" Taryn screams and Cardan is confused. Is there something wrong with the way he loves Jude? "Why can't you just be happy with one spouse and not have countless lovers on the side and have parties where your wife is forced to flirt with countless others?"

Cardan frowns at that and, looking to a blank-faced Jude, he says, "But, I don't have any other lovers. I _had_ many lovers, yes, but when I married...," he stops, "no. When I knew I loved Jude, I proceeded to rid myself of them. I love only your sister, sister-in-law, and will not allow another in my bedchamber as long as we are wed and, perhaps, even after that. I thought you knew this...?"

Jude is flushed at his words, naturally, but Taryn is balling her fists and stomping her feet. She shoots daggers with her eyes and, although they are not as sharp as Jude's, they do cut. _Painfully._

"Locke told me how the fae love differently!" She shrieks and Cardan is blinking back at her, wondering where to start.

"In some ways," he attests, "we do. We love until we do not anymore and, when we stop, it is like a branch that has snapped and broken. It cannot be properly fixed - it is why I can no longer love Nicasia in such a way as I love Jude. But, then again, Locke probably meant something else and that, dearest Taryn, was more of his own belief. I can tell you the names of several fae who are very monogamously faithful to each other and happy."

He proceeds to pick up his hands and tick them off on his fingers because, honestly, what is Cardan if not dramatic?

"Roiben and Kaye of the Court of Termites," he puts down two of his fingers, "Ravus, the creator of Nevermore and a solitary fae in Roiben's court, who is very happy in his relationship with a mortal named Valerie." He drops another finger. "The Alderking Severin and his changeling brother, Jack, who are very much in love with the Evans siblings." Cardan puts his whole hand down and Jude sends him a thankful smile - Taryn is, surprisingly, calmly listening to him by now.

He decides to continue.

"Severin's sister whose lover was slaughtered by Severin-himself and the previous Alderking was, technically, loyal to him even in his death. She became a rampaging monster with her grief, if stories are to be believed." Cardan drops a finger and Jude pulls a face, her eyes asking him whether he'll become a rampaging monster _again_ if something happens to her. Cardan shrugs in reply and she frowns - he might.

(Cardan, secretly, believes he will.)

"The Bomb and the Roach from the Court of Shadows are also very much mutually in love and have been faithfully hoping for the other's love for years," Cardan drops two fingers and Taryn nods, slowly. Uncertainly.

"Madoc and Oriana are also monogamous," he adds dropping two more and both the Duarte-siblings have flinched and, well, it is true. "Madoc was even faithful to your mother before she left him." Cardan shoots Jude a nervous smile when she glares at him with that, but, after a while, she shrugs and they both know it's true. That doesn't mean she doesn't glare at their bedspread, though, and Cardan realises she's still wearing her flimsy nightdress and he's still naked, but, honestly, what does he care?

Taryn certainly isn't looking at his body and Jude is used to him. And, besides, fae aren't worried by such things.

(He wishes Jude would rather pounce on him for his ungodly attractiveness, though, but, maybe, neither of the Duarte-siblings have actually noticed his state of undress? Mortals usually seem shocked by such things.)

Cardan decides to continue.

"We also have Vivi who you know is monogamously involved with Heather," he drops his hand. "And, of course, me, I am very faithful to my wife," he shrugs. "Locke was just an...," he pauses and tries to remember what Vivi said last time and, remembering the very mortal insult he says, "asshole. I don't understand why it's bothering you, though? Is there a reason you wanted to kill me for your dead husbands's words? I can tell you that I too strangled him once," Jude's eyes widen at that and Cardan grins, "it was glorious."

Taryn sighs and, nodding, she wipes her face with her dress's sleeves and takes a deep breath. "Yeah," she says, "I was worried about, I don't know, maybe starting something up with Garett and going on a stroll with him like he asked? I didn't wanted to be treated the same as I was with Locke. Garrett probably doesn't think about love in the same way Locke did and he won't hurt me like that."

No, Cardan thinks, eyes on a wrathful Jude, but Garett might get hurt. Not that Jude will stop them from forming an attachment.

(She'll just threaten the Ghost first and walk around with his head on a pyre to make anyone else who tries to court Taryn think about it twice and, maybe, Cardan should set about calming her too...?)

Cardan needs wine, he decides. Lots of it. Lest he cannot come near Jude and calm her like the adoring husband that he is.

It is at this moment that Fand comes in with scones and tea and, as luck would have it, the Ghost is walking behind her. Cardan launches himself across the room, tackling Jude to the bed, and, looking at the scandalised (Taryn), digusted (the Ghost) and shocked (Fand) faces looking back at him, Cardan grins.

"I'd like it you all left me and my wife alone now," he declares and, within seconds, the Ghost is shuffling Taryn out of the room and Fand shuts the door tightly behind them.

Jude pushes Cardan off her and, rolling to the side, Cardan sees his wife look down at him with pure fury in her eyes. "What are you doing?" She spits out and Cardan thinks she's unbelievably beautiful when she looks at him like that. Brow furrowed, eyes darkened, lips pursed, nostrils slightly flaring and hair a complete and utter chestnut mess. He wishes the sight was a portrait he could keep beside his bed.

Smiling from ear-to-ear, tail-flicking, Cardan locks his hands behind Jude's head and forces her downward until they are kissing and, gods, is it an amazingly wet, passionate, rejuvenating kiss. Jude even nibbles on his bottom-lip and Cardan moans.

He doesn't even know how they roll around, but Cardan is on top of Jude and they are still kissing, his tail wrapped around her leg and his leg inbetween hers and, yes, it is wonderful. When Jude digs her fingers into his back. When Jude moans and he moans and their passion grows and grows and grows to a crescendo that Cardan doesn't want to stop. It is all _wonderful_.

Cardan thinks he can, probably, just do it forever and ever and ever.

When Jude finally pulls away it is to look at him with a raised eyebrow and ask, "Well?"

Cardan grins. "I didn't want to share that look with anyone else, my sweet villain."

He kisses her again before she can say anything cutting back and pushes her back into their bed.

(Later, when the tea is cold and Jude is looking down at the scones like they're nasty little things, Cardan only laughs and winks at her while allowing his sheet to drop ever-so-slightly.)

 **.**

**Author's Note:**

> This jumped into my head quite suddenly and, I don't know, I just had to write it down.
> 
> It's also messy and I haven't proof-read it or even edited it. Heck, I wrote it in an hour, but I needed to get it out so here it is. Enjoy? I guess?


End file.
